JP2000355127A - Color printer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a color printer system capable of suppressing the erroneous detection of a paper color to the utmost. SOLUTION: A color printer system 10 includes an ink jet printer 12 and PC 14. When a power supply is turned on in the ink jet printer 12, a control circuit 20 is driven according to the indication of a CPU 16 to take out one paper from a paper tray. Light is emitted to the taken-out paper from the light emitting part of a reflection type sensor 26 and the transmitted light from the paper is detected by a transmitted light sensor 28. The transmitted light sensor 28 measures color temp. on the basis of the data of the three primary colors contained in the transmitted light and the thickness of the paper is measured by a thickness sensor 30. The PC 14 discriminates pieces of information color corresponding to the color temp. and paper thickness transmitted from the CPU 16. The color and printing density (ink ejecting amt.) of printing data are determined corresponding to the discriminated colors to perform printing. Since the color of the taken-out paper is detected, erroneous detection is eliminated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a color printer system, and more particularly, to a color printer system for printing information in a color corresponding to, for example, the color of paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of a conventional printer system of this type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. Hei.
No. 11355 [B41J 2/525, B41J
35/16] or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-35022 [B41J] filed on Feb. 10, 1998.
2/525, C06F 3/12]. These printers all use reflected light to detect the color of the paper.

[0003]

In the prior art utilizing the reflected light, erroneous detection may occur. For example, even if the same red color is applied, a light red color will appear as a dark red color. That is, when the color of the paper (paper color) is detected in a state of being stacked on the paper cassette, the brightness changes, and the accurate paper color cannot be determined.

[0004] Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a color printer system capable of suppressing the detection of paper color as much as possible.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, in a color printer system for printing information in an arbitrary color on an arbitrary color sheet, one sheet is taken out and the color is identified using the taken out sheet. A color printer system.

[0006]

In the color printer system, the printer prints arbitrary information (images, characters, etc.) on paper in accordance with an instruction from the host. In this case, in the color printer system, when the power of the printer is turned on or when the paper cassette is replaced, one sheet stacked on the paper cassette is taken out, and color identification is performed using the taken out sheet. Therefore, an accurate paper color can be identified.

More specifically, the color of a sheet is detected using transmitted light. That is, in one aspect of the present invention, light is emitted from the light emitting unit to the sheet, and the light receiving unit receives the transmitted light transmitted through the sheet. The color information detection means is the output of the light receiving unit (transmitted light)
The color information of the paper is detected based on the. In this aspect, transmitted light is used, so that an accurate color can be identified.

It is also possible to provide a thickness measuring means, measure the thickness of the paper taken out by the thickness measuring means, and correct the paper information based on the thickness. In this case, the saturation of the color of the paper is corrected, and a more accurate color can be identified.

The printing color determining means determines the printing color based on the detected paper color, but preferably selects a printing color which is complementary to the paper color.

[0010] However, it is also possible to change the print density depending on the lightness or the saturation. For example, when the brightness is low, the print density is increased. Also, when the saturation is low,
Increase the print density.

[0011]

According to the present invention, since one sheet is taken out and the color is detected, the color of the sheet can be identified accurately, and printing can be performed with the optimum printing color for the identified sheet color.

The above objects, other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

[0013]

Referring to FIG. 1, a color printer system 10 of this embodiment includes a color ink jet printer 12 and a personal computer (PC). The inkjet printer 12 includes a CPU 16,
The CPU 16 is connected to a control circuit 20, a buffer memory 22, and an interface 24 via a bus 18. The control circuit 20 includes a reflection type sensor 26, a transmitted light sensor 28,
It is connected to the thickness sensor 30, the motor 34 and the carriage 36. The inkjet printer 12 is connected to the PC 14 via the interface 24.

The ink jet printer 12 is shown in FIG. That is, the reflection sensor 26, the transmitted light sensor 28, the thickness sensor 30, and the carriage 36 shown in FIG. 1 are arranged as shown in FIG. The ink cartridge 32 is mounted on the carriage 36 and the reflection type sensor 2
6 is attached to the carriage 36. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the carriage 36 is fixed at a predetermined position on the timing belt 44 and is moved in the main scanning direction of the sheet 42a. A connector 36 a is provided on the carriage 36, and an FPC cable (not shown) is inserted thereinto and connected to the control circuit 20. Therefore, the injection port (nozzle) 32
Nozzle data (print data and data relating to the ejection amount) for ejecting ink from a is supplied from the control circuit 20 to the carriage 36 via the FPC cable.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the inkjet printer 12 shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a view of the sheet viewed from the upstream side of the transport path of the sheet 42a. Returning to FIG. 2, the transmitted light sensor 28 is provided on a straight line of the reflective sensor 26, and the thickness sensor 30 is provided between the transmitted light sensor 28 and the transport roller 38. Further, the inkjet printer 12 includes a pickup roller 40 and a paper cassette 42, and a paper tray 42
a is laminated.

The inkjet printer 12 includes a PC 14
Print processing is performed according to the nozzle data transmitted from the printer. It should be noted that the data regarding the ink ejection amount is described in the paper 42.
The paper property is set by the PC 14 depending on the type of a (paper type), and the injection amount is determined according to the paper property (paper type). The print data included in the nozzle data transmitted from the PC 14 is held in the buffer memory 22 via the interface 24. Further, data regarding the injection amount transmitted from the PC 14 is stored in the memory 16b provided in the CPU 16.

When printing is started, the CPU 16 instructs the control circuit 20 to drive the motor 34, rotate the feed roller 38, and convey the paper 42a to the printing start position. When the paper 42a is conveyed to the printing start position, the control circuit 20 instructs the control circuit 20 based on the data regarding the ejection amount, and prints the print data held in the buffer memory 22 by the control circuit 2.
0 to the carriage 36. The nozzles 32a are controlled according to the nozzle data (print data and data relating to the ejection amount), and the carriage 36 is scanned in the main scanning direction. In this way, the print data transmitted from the PC 14 is printed on the paper 42a. When the printing is completed, the ink is dried by, for example, a dryer (not shown), and the paper 42 a is discharged from the inkjet printer 12.

In the ink jet printer 12, when the main power is turned on, one sheet 42a stacked on the sheet cassette 42 is taken out, and the color of the sheet 42a is identified using the taken out sheet 42a. The color identification may be performed not only when the main power is turned on but also when the paper cassette 42 is replaced. In this case, a sensor for detecting the attachment / detachment of the paper cassette 42 may be provided.

In operation, the ink jet printer 1
When the main power supply 2 is turned on, the pickup roller 40 takes out one sheet 42a, and the taken-out sheet 42a is transported by the feed roller 38 to a position where the leading end of the sheet 42a exceeds the measurement position A. That is, the sheet 42a is transported until the reflection sensor 26 detects the sheet 42a. In parallel with this operation, the carriage 36 is moved to a position facing the transmitted light sensor 28 as shown in FIG. Subsequently, light is emitted from a light emitting unit (not shown) of the reflection type sensor 26 according to an instruction of the CPU 16. Paper 4
The transmitted light transmitted through 2a is received by the transmitted light sensor 28. The transmitted light sensor 28 is an RGB filter (not shown)
And the color temperature is measured based on the data of the three primary colors extracted by the RGB filters. The measured color temperature data (color temperature data) is transmitted to the CPU 1 via the control circuit 20.
6 given. The CPU 16 stores the color temperature data in the memory 16a.

The light reflected by the paper 42a is received by a light receiving portion (not shown) of the reflection type sensor 26, and the voltage generated in the reflection type sensor 26 by this reflection light is CP.
U16. The CPU 16 has a reflection type sensor 26
Paper 4 based on the voltage corresponding to the reflected light output from
2a is detected. That is, since the reflection sensor 26 is driven to emit light at a constant voltage, the reflectance can be detected by the constant voltage and the voltage of the reflected light. The CPU 16 stores data of the detected reflectance (reflectance data) in the memory 16a.

Next, the CPU 16 instructs the control circuit 20 to control the thickness sensor 30. The thickness sensor 30 is shown in FIG.
As can be seen from FIG. 3, the upper member (the portion where the L-shape is rotated by 180 degrees) 3 of the thickness sensor 30 is formed in a U-shape.
0a can be driven up and down. Therefore, in accordance with the instruction of the control circuit 20, the horizontal portion of the upper member 30a and the lower member 3
0b, the thickness of the paper 42a can be measured with the paper 42a interposed therebetween. That is, the thickness sensor 30 measures the thickness of the paper 42a in the same manner as when measuring with a caliper,
Data of the measured thickness of the paper 42a (thickness data) is provided to the CPU 16 via the control circuit 20. CPU1
6 stores the thickness data in the memory 16a.

When the CPU 16 detects the color temperature data, the reflectance data and the thickness data (paper data) of the paper 42a, it instructs the control circuit 20 to drive the motor 34, rotate the feed roller 38 in the reverse direction, and 42a is returned to the upstream side from the measurement position A (print start position). That is,
Until the reflection sensor 26 no longer detects the paper 42a,
The feed roller 38 is rotated in the reverse direction. And CPU1
6 transfers the sheet data stored in the memory 16a to the PC 14 via the interface 24.

The above-described operation is performed by the CPU 16 in accordance with the flowcharts shown in FIGS. When the main power supply of the inkjet printer 12 is turned on, the CPU 16
Starts the process, and conveys the sheet 42a until the leading end of the sheet 42a exceeds the measurement position A in step S1. In a succeeding step S3, a paper data measuring process is executed, and the paper data measured in the step S5 is transferred to the PC. When the transfer of the sheet data is completed, the sheet 42a is returned to the upstream side from the printing start position in step S7, and the process is ended.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the paper data measurement process is started, the reflection sensor 26 emits light in step S11. In a succeeding step S13, the color temperature data output from the transmitted light sensor 28 is read, and in a step S15
Then, the read color temperature data is stored in the memory 16a. Then, in step S17, the thickness sensor 30 is driven, the thickness data output from the thickness sensor 30 is read in step S19, and the thickness of the sheet 42a is stored in the memory 16a in step S21. Further, step S2
In step 3, a voltage corresponding to the reflected light detected by the reflection sensor 26 is read, and the reflectance data of the paper 42a is measured based on the voltage. In a succeeding step S25, the measured reflectance data is stored in the memory 16a, and the process returns.

When the paper data is transferred from the ink jet printer 12, the PC 14 temporarily stores the transferred paper data in the memory 14a. The PC 14 identifies the color (color information) of the paper 42a based on the paper data, and executes a determination process of paper information (color information and paper type) for determining the type (paper type) of the paper 42a. Subsequently, the PC 14 determines a print color and a print density (ink ejection amount) based on the sheet information.

That is, the PC 14 determines the hue, lightness, and saturation (color information) with reference to the color temperature data. P
C14 can determine whether the paper 42a is a colored paper based on the determined hue. If the paper is a colored paper, the PC 14 determines the paper 42 based on the thickness data.
Correct the saturation of a. That is, since the amount of light detected by the transmitted light sensor 28 varies depending on the thickness of the paper 42a, it is necessary to correct the saturation to an accurate value according to the thickness of the paper 42a. Specifically, a table A of data measured using the papers 42a having different thicknesses is stored in the memory 14b of the PC 14, and the saturation is corrected based on the thickness data using the table A. In this way, the determined hue, lightness, and corrected saturation are stored in the memory 14c.

Subsequently, the PC 14 determines the paper type based on the reflectance data stored in the memory 14a.
That is, the surface roughness of the paper 42a can be detected based on the magnitude of the reflectance, and the detected paper 42a surface roughness can be used to determine the type of paper such as OHP paper, glossy paper, recycled paper, high-quality paper, and plain paper. Can be determined. In the determination of the paper type, a table B of data obtained by measurement using the above-described different types of papers 42a is stored in the memory 14b. The paper type is determined based on. P
C14 stores the determined paper type in the memory 14b. When the paper type is determined, the paper properties are changed based on the paper type. Therefore, the standard ink ejection amount set in the printer driver is determined according to the paper type. If the paper 42a is not a colored paper, only the paper type is determined.

When the determination of the paper information is completed, the PC 14
Subsequently, a print color and print density determination process is executed. When the paper 42a is a colored paper, the print color (the color of the print data) is changed to a complementary color based on the hue stored in the memory 14a. Further, the ink ejection amount is adjusted based on the brightness and color of the paper 42a. That is, if the brightness is low, the injection amount is increased from the standard injection amount. Also, similarly to the lightness, when the lightness is low, the saturation is increased from the standard injection amount.
As for the ink ejection amount, a table C of data measured using the paper 42a of various brightness and saturation is stored in the memory 14b, and the ejection amount is adjusted from the brightness and saturation using the table C. Is done. When the brightness and the saturation are high, the color becomes closer to white, so that the printed image can be sufficiently identified even with the standard ejection amount.

Further, based on the thickness data, the ink ejection amount adjusted according to the saturation and brightness is further finely adjusted. That is, when the thickness of the paper 42a is larger than the standard thickness, the ink ejection amount is increased, and when the thickness of the paper 42a is smaller than the standard thickness, the ink ejection amount is reduced. In the case of the standard thickness, the injection amount is not finely adjusted. If the paper 42a is not colored, the ink ejection amount is finely adjusted based only on the thickness.

The above operation is performed by the PC 14 shown in FIGS.
The processing is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. As shown in FIG.
When the main power of the PC 14 is turned on, the PC 14 starts processing, and determines whether or not data has been transferred from the CPU 16 in step S31. If "NO" in the step S31, it is determined that the data is not transferred, and the process returns to the step S31. On the other hand, in step S31, "YE
If "S", it is determined that the data has been transferred, and the paper information (color information and paper type) is determined in step S33, and the paper properties (paper type) are changed in step S35. The standard ejection amount of the ink is determined according to the following.
The print color and print density (ink ejection amount) are determined, and the process ends.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the paper information determination process is started, the hue, lightness and color are determined with reference to the color temperature data stored in the memory 14a in step S41. In a succeeding step S43, it is determined whether or not the paper 42a is a colored paper based on the hue. Step S
If "NO" in 43, it is determined that the paper 42a is not a colored paper, and the process proceeds to step S49. On the other hand, step S
If "YES" in 43, it is determined that the paper 42a is a colored paper, and in step S45, the color of the paper 42a is corrected based on the thickness data stored in the memory 14a. In a succeeding step S47, the determined hue, lightness and corrected color (color information) are stored in the memory 14c. In step S49, the type (paper type) of the paper 42a is determined based on the reflectance data stored in the memory 14a. When the paper type is determined, the paper type determined in step S51 is stored in the memory 14b, and the process returns.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the print color and print density determination processing is started, the memory 1 is determined in step S61.
It is determined whether the paper 42a is a colored paper based on the hue stored in 4c. In step S61, “YE
If S ", it is determined that the paper 42a is a colored paper, and the printing color (the color of the printing data) is changed to a complementary color based on this hue. In the subsequent step S65, the memory 14c
The ink ejection amount is adjusted based on the brightness and the saturation stored in step S67, that is, the print color is determined.
Proceed to.

On the other hand, if "NO" in the step S61, it is determined that the sheet 42a is not a colored sheet, and the process directly proceeds to a step S67. In step S67, the memory 1
Based on the thickness data stored in 4a, it is determined whether the thickness is standard. “YES” in step S67
If so, it is determined that the thickness is the standard thickness, and the routine returns.

On the other hand, if "NO" in the step S67, it is determined that the thickness is not the standard thickness, and the process of finely adjusting the injection amount according to the thickness is executed. That is, it is determined in step S69 whether the thickness of the sheet 42a is larger than the standard thickness. If "YES" in the step S69, it is determined that the thickness is larger than the standard, and in a step S71, the injection amount is increased from the injection amount adjusted in the step S65 or the standard injection amount, and the process returns. On the other hand, if "NO" in the step S69, it is determined that the thickness of the sheet 42a is smaller than the standard, and in a step S73, the injection amount is reduced from the injection amount adjusted in the step S65 or the standard injection amount, and the process returns.

According to this embodiment, since one sheet is taken out and the sheet color is detected, it is possible to identify the sheet color accurately, and it is possible to print in the printing color optimal for the identified sheet color.

In this embodiment, the printing color and the ejection amount are determined based on the color information and the sheet information of the sheet. However, the printing color and the ejection amount may be determined based only on the color information. The effect can be obtained sufficiently. In this case, it is not necessary to measure the reflectance data using the reflection type sensor. That is, steps S23 and S23 in FIG.
25, step S35 in FIG. 6, and steps S49 and S51 in FIG. 7 may be further deleted.

Further, in this embodiment, a color ink jet printer has been described, but a color laser printer may be used. In this case, the print density can be changed by adjusting the density of the developer. But,
In the case of a color laser printer, since the developer adheres to the surface of the paper, it is not necessary to adjust the density of the developer according to the thickness of the paper. That is, steps S67 to S73 in the flowchart shown in FIG. 8 are omitted.

Further, when a color laser printer is provided with a plurality of paper trays, a sensor for detecting paper data is provided for each paper tray, and the main power supply is turned on. At this time, the sheet data detection process may be performed on all the sheet trays to detect the sheet color held in each sheet tray. When the paper tray is replaced, only the paper data of the replaced paper tray needs to be updated. In this case, since there is only one paper transport path, the paper used for detection is temporarily discharged from the printer.

Further, in this embodiment, the paper data is detected by using the reflection type sensor and the transmitted light sensor. However, as shown in FIG. The transmitted light may be detected by a transmitted light sensor, and the reflected light may be detected by a reflected light sensor. Further, as shown in FIG. 9B, one light-emitting portion and two light-receiving portions are provided using a polarizing prism, the light is dispersed by the polarizing prism, the transmitted light is detected by the transmitted light sensor, and the reflected light is reflected. Light may be detected by a reflected light sensor.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an illustrative view showing one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustrative view of the ink jet printer shown in FIG. 1 embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the ink jet printer shown in FIG. 1 embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a part of the processing of the CPU shown in the embodiment in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing another portion of the processing by the CPU shown in FIG. 1 embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a part of the processing of the PC shown in FIG. 1 embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing another part of the process of the PC 14 shown in FIG. 1 embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing another part of the process of the PC 14 shown in FIG. 1 embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an illustrative view showing another example of a sensor for detecting paper data in the ink jet printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Color printer system 12 ... Inkjet printer 14 ... PC 16 ... CPU 20 ... Control circuit 26 ... Reflective sensor 28 ... Transmitted light sensor 30 ... Thickness sensor 32 ... Ink cartridge 36 ... Carriage

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A color printer system for printing information in an arbitrary color on an arbitrary color sheet, wherein one color sheet is taken out and the color is identified using the taken out sheet. . 2. A light-emitting section for irradiating light to the taken-out sheet, a light-receiving section for receiving light transmitted by the light through the sheet, and detecting color information of the sheet based on an output of the light-receiving section. 2. The color printer system according to claim 1, further comprising color information detection means. 3. The color printer system according to claim 2, further comprising: a thickness measuring unit for measuring a thickness of the taken-out sheet; and a correcting unit for correcting the color information according to the thickness. 4. The color printer system according to claim 2, wherein said color information includes a hue, and further comprising a print color determining means for determining a print color based on said hue. 5. The color printer system according to claim 4, wherein said print determination means selects a complementary color. 6. The color printer system according to claim 4, wherein said color information further includes lightness and chroma, and further comprising density changing means for changing a print density based on said lightness and said chroma.